Action bias

A couple of weeks ago, I came across a video describing how high-performing individuals all tend to have a bias toward action. In other words, they'd rather try out several things, knowing they can flop, than do nothing. They're not overly concerned with failure because what they care about the most is doing stuff, building things, and spreading ideas. As someone who has always found the prospect of failure daunting and struggles with taking action, I was intrigued and felt compelled to delve deeper.

I grew up in a very risk-averse family, and traditional schooling only reinforced this tendency. If that weren't enough, battling eating disorders for over two decades left me feeling progressively weaker, robbed of all self-confidence, and paralyzed from taking any meaningful action. I ended up just coasting along for a long time. Working on my personal development these past couple of years has kindled a desire to finally change course. But, as we all know, the chasm between wanting and doing is vast and incredibly scary.

For a long time, I kept coming back to the idea of sharing the lessons I had learned in my recovery journey from eating disorders—and those I continue to learn—in the hopes they could be of use to other people. I wanted to give my experience meaning by creating impactful content and start training as a coach. And yet, I kept finding reasons to postpone. I still didn't have enough to offer, I couldn't afford to fail, the stars weren't aligned... I had plenty of good reasons not to get started! My past conditioning and my fears kept holding me back, and I was caught in the clutches of procrastination. However, after watching that video, I suddenly realized that the real question I had to ask myself wasn't, "What do I risk by pursuing this?" but, "What am I giving up by choosing not to do it?"

In my case, the risk was not making an impact (even if it's just one person who benefits from your message, you've made an impact), missing out on meaningful conversations around the topics I care about, and failing to develop new skills such as writing or podcasting.

Embracing the mindset that imperfect action is better than no action at all changes everything. Rather than endlessly planning or waiting for the perfect moment, you decide to start taking immediate steps toward your goal, breaking the inertia and building momentum. Each step forward increases your motivation to keep going. Also, by committing to moving forward, you're forced to confront and overcome fear and self-doubt. Little by little, you challenge your limiting beliefs and expand your comfort zone.

Another good reason to get started is that by being proactive and taking those first few steps toward our goals, you increase the likelihood of stumbling upon new opportunities, connections, and resources. Finally, cultivating a bias toward action helps you develop the habit of taking consistent action, even when faced with challenges or setbacks. There's a sentence that has stuck in my mind regarding the attitude we should adopt vis-à-vis failure. I can't recall what podcast it was, but the host was basically saying that the worst thing one can do is to “fail once, quit forever”. Nobody enjoys a setback, but we need to keep in mind that successes are often built on past failures, so we have to learn to embrace the discomfort and be ready to start over because the price of quitting and choosing inaction is too high.

So here I am, writing my second blog post and getting ready to send out my first newsletter (don't forget to subscribe and join the community if you haven't already!). I'm still filled with self-doubt, and I'm sure I'll repeatedly stumble along the way. But I'm committed to moving forward.

You, too, might have some dreams on hold, some projects you never got around to for fear of failure, some ideas that are worth sharing. If that's the case, I really hope this post will help you spring into action and take that precious first step!

If this post speaks to you, please share your thoughts in the comments, and don't hesitate to share this with anyone you believe might find it valuable.